First I should explain the title. Iain McGowan FRPS produces his photographic output in what mustbe a fairly large garden shed, so everything which he showed us literally came from the garden shed.
This is the second inspiration presentation we seen this year, the first being Ken Scott before Christmas.
Ian is a late convert to the digital camera. Ian took the decision that he wasn't going to use a computer and that he wasn't going to buy a DSLR. After taking advice he purchased a Panasonic LX3 (which he still uses) and hasn't looked back. His 'workflow' is admirably simple, get the image right in the camera, put the memory card into a printer, press two buttons, mount print. It would take several lengthy articles to explain my workflow!
Ian's 'digital' output consists largely of collections of images which are of details of a subject, often printed small and mounted in a large mount. Never has the maxim "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts" been better illustrated. Each image in a series was good, but if you saw one without the rest you would pass by, but when a large number of related images are put together they grab your attention.
Ian also mounts collections of four inch square prints on foam board, which is also a very effective way of illustrating an area or a subject. His Blackpool collection (three boards full of prints) gave a strong flavour of Blackpool the English seaside resort.
He showed is a variety of image collections including close ups of patterns which looked like impressionist landscapes but were actually small areas of boat hulls. His take on Dungeness was fascinating, no pictures of trains, power stations or the homes on the shingle, Ian's were of patterns produced by someone throwing a tin of black paint on a white transport container. The thing was, the images (which were taken very close up) looked like tree filled landscapes.
It was clear that Ian loved taking pictures with his compact camera, the freedom of being able to pull a camera out of your pocket and shoot away is a powerful thing. It was also clear that he had developed an eye for finding interesting details (especially when it is raining) and producing images which draw the viewer in to the fun he had when taking them.
Ian runs courses which sell out fast, as his house is a computer free zone he has no web site of his own, however, you can find out how to contact him here. Ian is also a member of The Focus Group.